I’m Tired!

For the first time in my 67 years I’m really tired of what I see in the world today. Bear in mind, I’ve lived through the Cold War, the threat of nuclear annihilation (think 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis for example), political assassinations, multiple financial crises, personal and family health crises, deaths of family and friends, and political environments which were disappointing and disgusting. But never have I been as tired or concerned for our world as I am today. It’s unhealthy. Hypocrisy has never run deeper.

I see environmentalists protesting pipelines and the petroleum industry but arriving in their gas driven vehicles and Gortex jackets; protesters arriving on their bicycles with their plastic banners held high thanks to well paved streets and roads . Sorry folks pavement isn’t natural and neither are the steel, aluminum, carbon fibre frames nor the synthetic rubber tires you arrived on.

Electric vehicle advocates touting their choice for cleaning up the environment while turning a blind eye to the devastation a lithium mine creates; the land that’s lost due to the creation of hydro electric dams to support your fuel of choice; the power required and byproducts of an aluminum smelter; the energy and petroleum byproducts needed to make the plastic in your vehicle; the landscape changes required to run the megawatt power lines to your electrical plug; the increase in carbon caused by the burning of natural gas or coal to create your electricity.

Politicians who promise “sunny ways my friends” and believe that the sun rises and falls on them so it must be sunny. Yet they can’t see what’s happening around the corner because they suffer from myopia caused by their rose coloured glasses.

Before an election, we as electors buy the menu our politicians sell us and after it, we end up eating what we’re served . Of course, we’ve done this since Roman days so I guess we’re stuck with it. It certainly proves the oxymoron, “an honest politician”.

We can send hundreds of millions of dollars to under developed nations to have a significant portion of it stay in the pocket of some tin pot dictator but we can’t give our own First Nations/Indigenous People safe homes and clean drinking water. Leaders can retire on hundreds of millions they’ve taken from the pockets of their people and we in the western world are chastised when we don’t send more money to replace the diverted funds.

We can spend tens of millions on advertising our political accomplishments (debatable) but we can’t afford to fund surgeries or drugs which can give people a better quality of life.

In fairness, I’m not a parent, and truthfully, I’m not sure I want to be one in today’s world. I know, we “old people” talk about “when I was growing up”, but really, do parents need to know where their children are 100% of the time? Do they need to protect them for all perils, real and imagined?

There was something about my mom saying “Be home by supper time” that was very reassuring. It meant she trusted me. It also had an implied threat in it. I knew if I wasn’t or at least didn’t check in, there would be consequences. She knew I knew the perils of my existence. It wasn’t unusual to have to give a bison a wide berth or peddle like hell to be sure you were out of its way and let’s not even talk about rutting season!

I was sent an email recently with the following link: http://eheadlines.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/StraightOuttaHarvard.mp4

I have since found out this video is not a real situation but was staged by a person who was attempting to make a parody video. (Thanks Dr. T) Unfortunately it took on a life of its own.

However, if there are people who have this attitude, I can only feel sorry for them as the reality of the real world confronts them. Sorry, but unless you have a trust fund, yes, you do have to get to work on time.

For his 1907 Cambridge dissertation, John Kenneth Freeman said:

“The counts of the indictment are luxury, bad manners, contempt for authority, disrespect to elders, and a love for chatter in place of exercise. …” *

Do you think things have changed much? Having said that, I love my younger family members dearly and I know by and large they will make the best of the world they are growing up in.

Last, I’m tired of the 24 hour news cycle but I watch like a hawk. However, I’ve become more discerning. I can now turn off the repetitious cycle of the latest Trump paranoia, our PM taking another selfie, and the latest video of death and destruction wherever it may be. I’m not insensitive to it. I am, in fact, overwhelmed by it.

So, today, I leave you with these thoughts:

Tell someone you love them.

Hug someone you care about.

Smile at a stranger.

Thank someone regardless of how small the task was they did for you.

Spend some time on yourself. Take a nap, meditate, read a book, enjoy a coffee.

And remember, you can always change the channel whether it’s the TV or yourself.

One more thing, if you leave a comment and I don’t reply right away, as I said, I’m tired, so I’m probably taking a nap.

I completely understand what you’re saying – if I look for too long at our societal woes, I feel helpless and overwhelmed, too. Your list of advice is excellent – lately I’ve been taking ten or fifteen minutes a day to just sit on the deck, turn off my brain, and reconnect with nature. Ahhh. Enjoy your nap! 🙂

I have to agree with you on this Nelson. As a travel blogger, I have been to places which are all hyped up about how wonderful they are. What do I find? Money grubbing rip offs offering rubbish that the locals wouldn’t touch with a ten foot barge pole. So, going with those locals, I end up ignoring the tourist trap and meeting some really great people that I have begun returning, just to be with them.

The world has become enamored with itself. Locked into their iPhones, the real world seems to disappear into a sludge of electro-mediocrity. Pull the plug and their world ends.